Dueling in Love
by Testing123456
Summary: When Yuma hosts a second Sports Duel Tournament, Rio sees her chance to explore her feelings for him. But what would a tournament be without competition? [Sequel to "Rivalry in Love."]
1. Chapter 1

"Rise and shine, Rio!" Ryouga's loud and rather annoying voice cut through the house. "If you don't, we're going to be late!"

I grunted into my pillow, irritated. I'd already been awake, enjoying that lull right after getting up where daydreams felt so warm and fuzzy. Ryouga just had to go and ruin it, of course.

I sat up in my bed slowly, putting a hand over my eyes to block out the bright morning sun. It was a nice day out. A perfect day for what we had planned.

My door opened and I turned to see Ryouga leaning against the doorframe, a smug look on his face. "To be honest, I don't really care about being late. Or even going at all. Only thing is, I don't want you to miss any precious moments with your _boyfriend_."

I blushed against my will, and Ryouga laughed cockily. With lightning speed, I pulled up a pillow and hurled it towards him. With reflexes borne of years of such squabbling, he shut the door just in time for the pillow to hit the doorframe and fall to the ground harmlessly. I heard him continue to laugh as he retreated down the hallway.

I sighed and finally decided to get off the bed. I stretched, yawning, and checked the clock.

Today was the day of our second Sports Duel Tournament among friends. Ryouga, as usual, was confident he could thrash everyone at the tournament and - like last time - was not too interested in participating. He'd decided to come in order to have a field day doing stuff like he'd just done – namely, teasing me.

Hm, we were supposed to meet near the school grounds at 10 for the tournament. It was around 9, which was ample time to get myself ready.

Once I'd brushed and showered, I pulled out a bag and stuffed it with as many types of attire as possible. Beach, swim, sport, you name it, I packed it. From my experience at the last sports duel tournament, I knew I had to be ready for anything.

I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked downstairs to meet Ryouga for breakfast. He'd already started eating, absently shoving cereal in his mouth while watching some kind of rock concert on TV. That guy and his guitars…

I got myself some cereal and was about to fall into my own thoughts when Ryouga suddenly spoke up.

"You ready?"

I stiffened. It sounded like a serious enough question, but I knew Ryouga himself didn't think of the tournament all too seriously. Likely, he was going to get me to give a serious answer and make fun of me for it.

"What do you mean?" I played dumb.

Ryouga rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rio. Ever since we went over to his house you haven't been able to stop thinking about him. Today could be your chance to duel with him, and you know what that means."

No skirting it now. I moved my spoon around in my cereal mechanically, knowing Ryouga was right.

That _boyfriend_ he'd teased me about? He'd been referring to Yuma.

And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Ever since we'd gone over to Yuma's house and a game of Truth and Dare had almost led to us to, well, um, kiss… I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. It didn't help that I saw him every day at school and he made a point to acknowledge me and be friendly. It especially didn't help that Yuma was good friends with Ryouga already (although Ryouga would never admit it), which caused me to like him off the bat, not to mention spend a lot of time with him due to being around Ryouga.

And Ryouga was also right – unfortunately, but as usual – about the last part. I knew exactly what being able to duel with Yuma today meant.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. In Yuma's case, however, the way to his heart was through dueling.

Well… To be honest, considering Yuma it could actually be through his stomach, but still, the point stands.

"Why are you smiling?"

Darn it. I quickly wiped the absentminded grin off my face, trying to clear my head. See? This is what Yuma had been doing to me for a while now.

Ryouga rolled his eyes again. "That's sick, you know?" He shook his head. "Daydreaming about that loser. Sick."

Ryouga stood up and put his bowl in the sink, turning his face away from me. I grinned to myself. As harsh as his words sounded, they were all bark.

I knew Ryouga approved of Yuma.

How? Because, firstly, Ryouga hadn't yet tried to punch Yuma's face in. And secondly, because Yuma was one of the few people who had ever bested Ryouga in a duel. It was one of my brother's few and fierce sentiments that a person's dueling prowess was a reflection of the strength of their character. I knew for a fact that Ryouga would never state the implication of those two facts out loud, but I knew what it was for myself, which was enough.

Ryouga respected Yuma.

I finished my breakfast, picked up my pack, and joined Ryouga on his motorcycle.

"So? You still haven't answered my question." Ryouga said, revving the engine but not moving.

"Huh? What question?"

"Are you ready?"

I smiled. I didn't know why he had to be so callous most of the time, but whatever the reason, this was what mattered. When it came down to it, Ryouga always supported me.

I thought genuinely about his question. Yuma would be there, but so would Kotori, and Cat as well – both of whom had expressed a rivalry with me. To be honest, I wasn't completely sure of the exact nature or strength of my feelings, or how they stacked up to the feelings of those two. But there was one thing I did know.

If there was any way to resolve these feelings, it was through dueling.

So the question was, was I ready to duel?

I grinned. "Of course."

Ryouga grunted, speeding the motorcycle onto the main road. It was a short ride to the school grounds. On the way, I reviewed my deck and strategies.

Honestly, the most helpful change this time around was that Girag wouldn't be scoring this one. All girl teams getting extra points? Talk about a dirty ref.

When we pulled up onto the grounds, I found that the other 6 competitors were already there. Just like last time, they were Yuma, Kotori, Cat, Tetsuo-kun, Tokunosuke-kun, and their class rep Takashi-kun. Shingetsu-kun was also present to be the MC and ref.

I slung my pack over my shoulder casually, making my way over with Ryouga. They all waved in greeting, and I waved back. (Ryouga didn't. Back to icy mode, I guess.) As I got close, Kotori winked at me, and Cat, erm, purred… I think.

I looked sidelong at Yuma, who seemed excited as ever. He was dressed in his casual attire: the red vest with buckles and the fiery bell bottom pants. He suddenly caught my eyes grazing over him and smiled. I tried my best to act nonchalant. Luckily, he didn't call me out on it.

"Hey, guys! What kept you so long?" he asked.

Ryouga snorted. "Ms. Princess over here. Wouldn't get out of bed, and after she did she just daydreamed about – GAH!"

I stomped on Ryouga's foot as discreetly as possible to stop him from spoiling everything. He looked at me angrily and I met his gaze, trying to send him the message silently.

"Um, ok…" Yuma said, relieving the awkwardness quickly. "Anyway, let's get started! Shingetsu, pick the teams!"

Shingetsu-kun produced a microphone seemingly out of nowhere and began announcing. "Alright, hello everyone and welcome to Heartland's second Sports Duel Tournament!"

We all clapped good-naturedly – except for Ryouga, that is. I guess it was a little cheesy, but come on, nothing wrong with some spirit.

"Now, teams of two will face off in various sports duels, each themed by a different sport. Teams will tag duel while playing the specified sport. A point goes to the winning team of each match, and at the end of the matches, the two teams with the most points will face off in the finals! Without further ado, let's pick the teams!" Shingetsu-kun fumbled around on his duel computer, probably inputting our names into a random team selector.

"Alright!" he said after a minute. "Here are the teams! Team 1: Tokunosuke-kun and the class rep!"

The two fist-bumped; they'd worked together the last time around and were obviously happy with their team.

"Team 2: Cathy-san and Tetsuo-kun!"

Cat looked a little peeved – I'm sure she wanted to be paired with Yuma. Tetsuo-kun didn't look too happy either, but the two looked at each other and shrugged. The nice thing about having a tournament with your friends was that any pairing was nice.

"Now, team 3: Shark and Kotori-san!"

Now, that would be interesting. Kotori's dueling experience was minimal, but with Ryouga paired up with her that'd still be a strong team. Kotori didn't seem ecstatic about the pairing, but she wasn't sour about it either. She looked over to Ryouga to acknowledge him, but Ryouga had his eyes closed, seemingly uncaring.

"Doesn't matter who I'm paired with. I'm going to win." He said haughtily. I felt my eyebrow twitch. Sometimes his attitude made me want to…

Wait… This left –

"And the final team! Team 4: Yuma-kun and Rio-san!"

I felt my heart beat a little faster. Yuma looked at me excitedly, running over immediately.

"Ready, Rio?" He asked, inflamed.

I grinned genuinely despite my nervousness. His excitement was infectious. "You bet. Let's win it all."

Yuma stood beside me as Shingetsu-kun spoke again. "Now, for the first match-up!" He clicked his duel computer furiously, and then looked up. "It'll be Shark and Kotori-san versus Yuma-kun and Rio-san in beach volleyball! Teams, get ready to play!"

I looked to Yuma and did a double take, sweatdropping. He and Ryouga were already locked in a fierce staring contest, silently promising to take one another down. I realized that Ryouga had expected to be bored because at the last tournament, paired up with Yuma, there was no real challenge for him. Now, though, on an opposing team from Yuma, Ryouga might actually get into it in order to beat him. I laughed to myself.

I met eyes with Kotori. She looked back at me, smirking. It wasn't cocky; it was more like challenging. I liked it. I nodded and grinned back.

It was on.

I went to the dressing room and changed quickly. Like last time, I donned some some short black bottoms and a red top that cut off before my midriff. I put on my purple duel gazer as well as my duel disk so I was all set to go. I came out of the dressing room to see Yuma waiting.

Like me, he went with his attire from last time. Simple blue shorts with red streaks on the side. It fit him nicely. My eyes moved up over his bare upper body. Not bad at all. Must be all the jump-

I mentally slapped myself. What was I doing?

Hmph, stupid hormones.

I moved my eyes to Yuma's face (where they should be). Unlike what I'd been doing, his eyes were square on my face, not wavering at all.

…Which I really should appreciate, but for some reason I felt kind of disappointed.

"So, ready to take them down?" He fingered his Emperor's Key, which he'd kept on despite taking his shirt off, and which in turn my hormones found intensely aggravating. Something about the idea of that single piece of cool metal laying against his bare -

I shook myself out of it. Right now, Yuma was counting on me to duel with him at my best. And we needed to, going up against Ryouga. I was sure Kotori wouldn't hold back, either.

"I'm ready," I shot back at him.

"Let's go, then, partner." He said casually. The way he said the word gave me good shivers, which was stupid seeing as he meant it innocuously.

"Ready to lose?" Ryouga asked coldly as Yuma and I stepped on the sand court. Kotori stood next to him, ready to go.

I grinned, about to retort. Yuma stole the words from out of my mouth. "You wish."

Shingetsu-kun was sitting in the ref's chair. "Alright, now that the trash talk is out of the way – " Yeah, right. That was like the tip of Ryouga's trash talking iceberg. "– let's get down to the duel. Are both sides ready?"

I looked at Yuma. He looked back at me intensely and pointed a finger towards the back in a silent question.

He'd take back and I'd take front? Sounded good to me. I nodded to him, and we took our places.

"We're ready!" I called.

"We've been ready for a while." Ryouga said coolly from the other side. Like Yuma, he'd taken the back. Kotori was up front, pretty close to me. We smirked at one another.

"Alright then," Shingetsu-kun called. "Begin!"

Everyone drew five cards.

Ryouga & Kotori: 4000 LP

Yuma & Me: 4000 LP

"We'll take the first move!" Ryouga called, drawing a card. "I summon Big Jaws, in attack mode! I'll then equip the spell card Xyz Crown to it, which allows me to use Big Jaws as two monsters while Xyz summoning!"

Uh-oh.

Ryouga tossed the volleyball high up into the air. "I overlay the two level 3 Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Emerge from the bottom of the ocean, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!"

The two conjoined sharks, boasting 1900 attack, appeared on the field. The volleyball was rushing back down towards Ryouga now.

"With that, I place one card facedown and end my turn!" Ryouga smashed his right hand into the ball, sending it sailing over my head.

"Yuma!" I called.

"Got it!" Yuma drew a card. "My turn! I summon Achacha Archer!" I smiled, knowing what that meant.

Yuma received the ball and then passed it over to me. "Rio!"

"Yup!" I jumped up and hit the ball at Ryouga as hard as I could.

Achacha Archer had materialized on the field, its arrow on fire, burning to leave its bow. Yuma punched the air with a fist. "When Achacha Archer is summoned, you take 500 points of damage!"

Ryouga cursed, receiving the ball and passing it as quickly as possible to Kotori. "Here!"

As soon as the ball left him Achacha Archer's arrow hit him in the chest, throwing him back.

Ryouga & Kotori: 3500 LP

Yuma & Me: 4000 LP

The ball was still in play, though. Kotori received it and passed it over. Yuma, meanwhile, was continuing his turn.

"Now, since you control a face-up Xyz monster, I can special summon Bite Bug!" The little critter materialized, which meant…

"Due to Bite Bug's effect, one monster you control loses 300 attack points!" Yuma hit Kotori's ball straight back to Shark.

Ryouga gritted his teeth and returned the ball, grunting. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark's attack fell to 1600 as Ryouga returned the ball in a high arc, coming for me. Hmm, both Achacha Archer and Bite Bug were level 3 monsters, so…

As the ball came over I tossed it up high and moved aside.

Yuma grinned at me and jogged in. "Thanks, Rio!" he called. I smiled back.

"I overlay the level 3 Achacha Archer and Bite Bug! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Temtempo the Percussion Djinn!" The dwarfish creature appeared with its drums, sporting 1700 attack.

Yuma jumped. "And I'm activating his effect right off the bat! By detaching one of his overlay units, he gains 500 attack and your Xyz monster loses an overlay unit!" Yuma hit the ball towards the other side.

Kotori grunted and took the edge off it, passing it to Ryouga. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark lost an overlay unit while Temtempo's attack rose to 2200. Ryouga had no choice but to hit the ball back straight to Yuma, who was ready for his next move.

"Now, Temtempo, attack! Make Shark face the music!" Yuma grinned cheekily and spiked the ball back to Ryouga hard and fast. The ball hit him square in the chest, pushing him back as Temtempo's music took Ryouga's monster down in an explosion.

Ryouga & Kotori: 2900 LP

Yuma & Me: 4000 LP

Yuma pumped his fist and we high-fived. On the other side, the smoke was clearing, and it seemed Ryouga had activated his facedown card.

"My trap card, Ghost Salvage, returns a Water Xyz monster destroyed by battle, along with its Xyz material monsters, back to the field with their effects negated." Ryouga's Submersible Carrier appeared with its old 1900 attack, as well as Big Jaws with 1800 attack.

Ugh, that guy always has something up his sleeve. Kotori passed the ball under the net back to us.

Yuma served it back. "I end my turn."

On the other side of the net, Kotori drew a card. "My turn!" Kotori jerked a thumb at Big Jaws, and Ryouga nodded seriously.

Impressive. Kotori was actually working with Ryouga.

"I summon Little Fairy!" True to its name, a little fairy – attack 800 – appeared and hovered next to Kotori.

Wait… Level 3? Was she going to…?

Sure enough, Ryouga received Yuma's serve and threw it up high.

Kotori's face became serious. "I overlay the level 3 Little Fairy and Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! I'm calling out Wind-Up Zenmaines, in defense mode!" Kotori spiked the ball towards us.

A large and complex robot appeared on the field, with an imposing 2100 defense points. Not a match for Temtempo, though.

Yuma hit the ball back, making time to compliment the Xyz summon. "Nice one, Kotori! That monster's looking strong!"

Kotori found my eyes. "Thanks, Yuma! I place one card facedown and end my turn!" She returned Yuma's ball in a high arc, all the while maintaining my gaze.

She was challenging me.

The ball sailed over to Yuma, who hit it up high for me. "You're up, Rio! Go for it!"

I locked eyes with Kotori, accepting her challenge.

"You got it, Yuma! Here I go!" I drew my card as the ball arced above me.

Showtime.

* * *

Author's Note

While this story is intended as the sequel to "Rivalry in Love," it may also be read on its own. If you are interested in "Rivalry in Love," it can be found through my profile page or the general archive.

Next Update: 04/10/14, by 4:00 AM UTC (Postponed Again)


	2. Chapter 2

A rush of adrenaline washed over me as I drew my card. If I wasn't focused before, I sure was now. Dueling had that effect on me.

I scanned my cards quickly, my hands already moving to play my cards even as the dots were still connecting in my head. With Yuma's Temtempo at my back, gaining control of the duel would be a piece of cake.

"I summon Blizzard Thunderbird!" After sliding the card onto my duel disk I gave the approaching volleyball a high lob over the net. That gave me a little more time for the slightly complicated maneuver I was about to try.

No time to waste. "Due to my monster's effect, I discard 1 card from my hand. Then I can return Blizzard Thunderbird to my hand in order to summon 2 Water Winged Beast-Type monsters, 1 from my hand – as long as it's not Blizzard Thunderbird - and 1 from my Graveyard."

Kotori transferred the ball to Ryouga, squinting. "But you don't have any monsters in your Grave – Oh, wait…"

I grinned as Ryouga spiked the ball over the net and grunted. He rubbed his chest in annoyance. "That's right - the card she got to discard due to Blizzard Thunderbird's effect."

I felt my grin widen involuntarily. "Oh Ryouga, you know me so well." He scowled. Behind me, Yuma chuckled in appreciation, which spurred me on. "I summon Aurora Wing from the Graveyard, and Blizzard Falcon from my hand!"

The two level 4 monsters appeared on my field. Behind me, I heard Yuma breathe out as he hit the ball back. "Keep going, Rio!" he called.

They were all expecting an Xyz Summon, and they would get it. But first…

"I equip the Spell 'Wings of Silence' to Blizzard Falcon, which raises its attack by 300!" Blizzard Falcon's attack went up to 1800. On the other side of the field, Kotori was passing Yuma's ball to Ryouga, but she looked puzzled, obviously wondering why I'd raise the attack of a monster when it still couldn't beat any of hers, and furthermore why I'd use an Equip Spell when I was about to use the monster equipped as an Xyz material – after all, the card would go to the Graveyard when the equipped monster was used to build the Overlay Network.

Ryouga, however, looked pale. He knew exactly why I'd done it, and he was right to be scared. He unwillingly tapped the ball over the net back to us.

"When Blizzard Falcon's attack exceeds its original attack, I can activate its Effect! You take damage equal to its original attack!" Ryouga swallowed. "That's right, 1500 big ones!" With perhaps too much pleasure I spiked the ball over the net towards Ryouga. It clipped his shoulder hard, and he glared at me before he went to pick up the ball.

Ryouga & Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma & Me: 4000 LP

"Nice one, Rio!" I heard Yuma call from behind me suddenly. I almost jumped; I'd become so immersed in my duel that for the first time that day he'd left my mind. But now he flashed me a thumbs up, grinning ear-to-ear, and all my thoughts came rushing back. I flashed him a smile.

"Heads-up!" Ryouga said roughly. I turned back in time to see him serve the ball. Alright, time to give them what they'd been expecting. Yuma received the ball and threw it up high.

"I overlay the level 4 Aurora Wing and Blizzard Falcon! With these two monsters, I'm building the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Ice Beast Zerofyne!" The monster appeared on the field, donned in armor made of icicles. I gave Yuma's ball a light hit over to Kotori.

With 2000 attack, Zerofyne held its own on the current field, but we could do even better. "I activate Ice Beast Zerofyne's Effect: by detaching 1 Overlay Unit, I'm negating the Effects of all of your face-up cards, and Zerofyne's getting 300 attack for every face-up card on the field." That would take care of Wind-Up Zenmaines' pesky ability and also add 900 attack points to Zerofyne for a grand total of 2900.

At the expense of feeling like Ryouga: time to rock 'n' roll.

Kotori hit the ball back straight to me, the challenge still in her eyes. Honestly, I should attack Submersible Carrier because it was in attack mode and the battle would cost her life points… But I couldn't resist the look she was giving me.

"Ice Beast Zerofyne, attack Wind-Up Zenmaines!" I spiked the ball at Kotori.

Zerofyne shot ice towards Kotori's Xyz monster just behind the ball, which was about to hit her in the stomach. With a sudden jerk though, she repositioned herself and managed to take the edge off the ball, passing it Ryouga. He in turn lobbed it up high back to her.

Uh-oh. That meant…

Sure enough, Kotori grinned victoriously. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Unity! By targeting Wind-Up Zenmaines, Unity increases my monster's defense by the defense of any other monsters on the field. Which means, thanks to Submersible Carrier Aero Shark, my monster gets 1000 additional defense points!" Zenmaines' defense went up to 3100. I watched in horror as the monster deflected Zerofyne's ice straight back to hit me.

Ryouga & Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma & Me: 3800 LP

Oomph!

I'd stepped back in surprise as the holographic ice washed over me, and completely missed the ball Kotori had spiked… which had been hurtling straight toward me, and just connected squarely with my chest. I stumbled back and slipped in the sand, whirling my arms wildly.

Instead of feeling the rough sand of the ground though, soft skin pressed into my back and prevented my fall altogether. I righted myself quickly as Yuma's head came over my shoulder. "You ok, Rio?" he asked concernedly.

Yuma's warm hands had snaked around my waist to prevent my fall. I could feel his fingertips pressing into the bare skin near my belly button, the tightness of his grip indicative of his caring for my well-being. Behind me the skin of his chest and abs pressed into my back. Just below the cloth of my cut off top the metal of his key created a chilly vortex in my skin around which the rest of his warmth seemed to swirl.

I shivered.

"I – I'm fine, thanks." I managed.

Yuma grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. I fought down a blush as he went to grab the ball. As I absently moved my hand over my belly where Yuma's hands had been a moment before, I caught Ryouga staring at me pointedly from across the net. I turned my head away, not ready to deal with him at the moment. That put me in the line of sight of Kotori. She wasn't looking my way, but by her expression I could see that, despite having just one-upped me, she seemed to be upset.

I could imagine why.

Yuma served the ball and I snapped back to attention. "I end my turn by placing one card facedown." It might be a bad idea to leave myself with only 2 cards in my hand, but if this worked out…

The end of my turn brought Zenmaines' defense back to 2100 while the duel came full circle back to Ryouga. He drew a card, passing the ball back. "I sacrifice Submersible Carrier Aero Shark in order to tribute summon Panther Shark."

I set the ball up for Yuma, who hit it to Kotori.

"Thanks to the Effect of Panther Shark, I can now Special Summon Eagle Shark from my hand."

Two level fives… Kotori gave the ball a high arc, and Ryouga swept his arm back in preparation. "I Overlay the level 5 Panther Shark and Eagle Shark. With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network! I Xyz Summon Shark Fortress!" Ryouga spiked the volleyball long. Behind me, I heard Yuma grunt as he took the edge off of it, and I spun in time to give him an assist, sending the ball to Kotori.

True to its name, a large, imposing fortress in the likeness of a shark now dominated the field, with 2400 attack. Zerofyne was still sporting 2900 attack, so I wasn't in trouble –

"I activate the Spell Aqua Jet!" Well, scratch that. "Thanks to its effect, Shark Fortress gains 1000 attack." Shark Fortress' attack went up to 3400. "I then detach an Overlay Unit from Shark Fortress to activate its Effect: it gets to attack twice this turn." Ryouga smirked as Kotori tossed ball in an arc over to him.

I gulped. "Now," he continued, "let's start by teaching my upstart sister a little lesson." I stuck my tongue out at him, but he went on, not fazed in the slightest. "Shark Fortress, attack Ice Beast Zerofyne!" He spiked the ball at me.

With Shark Fortress' attack in my face, I couldn't keep track of the ball. I lashed at it wildly, managing to clip it as Ice Beast Zerofyne was destroyed above me.

Ryouga & Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma & Me: 3300 LP

The clip I'd managed gave the ball no height boost, and it sputtered toward the ground. Just then though, Yuma dove across the sand quickly with his arms outstretched; his body hit the ground roughly but his hands made contact with the ball, sending it just over the net. I rushed to his side quickly to help him up.

"You ok, Yuma?" I asked concernedly, assisting him at the shoulder.

He turned his face and flashed me a grin. As he rose, though, I could clearly see bright red streaks across his chest and abdomen where the coarse sand had bitten into his body. I gasped lightly but didn't get to say anything before Ryouga's voice cut across the court.

"Nice save, Yuma, but think you can do it again?" Kotori's expression showed concern for Yuma, but she passed Yuma's ball to the waiting Ryouga nonetheless. "After all, have you forgotten about Shark Fortress' second attack?"

Beside me, Yuma gritted his teeth.

Wait… That's it! My eyes flashed to my face down card. "Yuma, activate Temtempo's Effect!" I called quickly. Across the field, Ryouga arm was coming through for his spike.

Yuma didn't even hesitate. "I activate the Effect of Temtempo the Percussion Djinn! By detaching one of my monster's Overlay Units, Shark Fortress loses one of its Overlay Units, and Temtempo gains 500 attack!" Temtempo's attack rose to 2700.

Ryouga's arm had already come through the spike; the ball was hurtling towards Yuma quickly. Ryouga smirked self-assuredly. "Fell a little hard there, Yuma? Do the math – Temtempo is still no match for Shark Fortress!"

"You sure about that?" With a well-time leap I jumped in front of Yuma and deflected the volleyball up high. "I activate my facedown Quick-Play Spell, Freezing Point! Thanks to its effect, I can target an Xyz monster with no Overlay Units, and its attack falls to 0!"

Across the court, Ryouga blanched. Kotori spoke up, shocked. "So the real reason for activating Temtempo's effect… was to get rid of Shark Fortress' last Overlay Unit?"

I smirked. "Yuma, take it away!"

"Gladly!" He ran up beside me. "Temtempo, retaliate and show Shark Fortress who's boss!" As Temtempo sounded its drums he jumped up mightily, body arced perfectly to maximize power into his hand. "Kattobingu da, ore!" With a powerful swing he drove the volleyball back to Ryouga.

An explosion rocked the other side of the field as Temtempo's music demolished Shark Fortress; simultaneously, Yuma's ball struck a still surprised Ryouga straight in his chest, causing him to stumble and fall back into the sand. A stunned Kotori stood by, mouth agape.

Ryouga & Kotori: 0 LP

**Yuma & Me: 3300 LP**

I stood still for a second, unable to believe it. I'd known what I was doing in the heat of the moment, but to think it would actually work out… It may not count as a one-on-one duel, but this was still the first time I'd ever even remotely taken Ryouga down.

Yuma ran up to me, beaming, and with a hand held high over his head. I gave him a resounding high five. "That was a great play at the end, Rio," he said, his body still trembling with genuine excitement from the duel.

I locked my fingers behind my back shyly. "Thanks, Yuma. But it couldn't have worked without your help."

He smiled again. "We make a good team, don't we, Rio?"

I blushed. Well, I sure thought so.

Yuma absentmindedly ran his hand over his bare stomach, and my attention snapped to the red scars on it. Without thinking I grabbed his hand, worried. "Yuma, we need to get you to the nurse. Those marks look bad, and they could get infected." I led him towards the school.

Yuma looked down towards the marks. "What, these? They're no big deal."

I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. He grumbled but didn't fight as I continued leading him towards the school. I was partly glad but partly worried. If he gave up so easily, it probably meant the bruises were aching enough that he thought a visit to the nurse was worthwhile.

Before he gave in completely he turned slightly and yelled over his shoulder. "Shingetsu, we'll be right back! Shark and Kotori, that was a great duel!"

I tuned as well and glanced at Kotori. She was waiting for it, and she nodded slightly at me in recognition of my win. I grinned back and then turned around towards the school.

Using our IDs we got into the school, but then it hit me that we were here on a holiday, so the nurse wouldn't actually be there.

And just when I'd been feeling like a brilliant strategist…

Nonetheless I led Yuma to the nurse's office where over-the-counter medicine and supplies were accessible to all students. Given my childhood with Ryouga I'd had to deal with cuts and scrapes aplenty, and I knew how to handle them.

"Sit down on the bench there, Yuma," I commanded as we walked into the nurse's office.

"Alright, nurse," Yuma replied playfully. I flushed, trying not to let my mind do too much with what he meant as an innocuous comment. "Do you actually know how to use the stuff in here?" he asked seriously now.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, for the most part. When I was little, Ryouga and I used to wrestle a lot and do other dangerous stuff that our parents didn't want us doing. So we kind of learned to self-treat ourselves to get out of having to show our injuries to our parents, which would have gotten us in trouble." I moved to the cabinets to gather some materials.

Behind me I could hear Yuma's legs swinging against the table. "Wow, that's impressive," he said, and I could feel his eyes following my back curiously as I searched for the appropriate supplies.

I found a soft towel quickly, and wet it in cool water from the sink. I wrung it out and handed it to Yuma, motioning to his sand burn. "Just wipe this gently across the burn for starters."

Yuma took the towel and stared at it, frowning. He touched it to his body softly at first, but then became impatient; he started pushing it against the burn and wiping his body roughly to just get it over with. I could see him cringe in pain as he did so. I shook my head and stopped his hand with my own. He stared as I took the towel from him.

"Here, let me."

He put his hand to the side to give me room. I moved flush against the table between his legs to get more access. Then I placed the soft cloth of the towel against his chest and wiped slowly and methodically across, working my way down.

Yuma hummed. "Mm, the towel's cool. That feels nice, Rio."

I merely nodded, trying to keep the redness out of my face. Here I was supposed to be treating him, and I just couldn't get out of my head the fact that my face was inches from his bare chest. I moved his metal key aside momentarily as I wiped underneath it, and then let it go, watching it fall back against his chest in a trance.

"Rio?"

"Hmm?" I snapped out of it.

"I think you got all of it."

I looked down at my hand, which had reached the bottom of his abdomen; the towel rested at the hem of his shorts now. I pulled away, blushing madly.

"S-Sorry!" I almost shouted.

He shrugged. "No problem. What's next?"

I cleared my head and focused on the task at hand. Now that I'd cleaned the injury all I needed to do was ensure it didn't get infected and then cover it up. I grabbed some Neosporin and gauze from the cabinet.

I handed the Neosporin to Yuma first. "Alright, you want to put a light coating of this over your burn. It's essentially an antibiotic that'll help speed your healing, too."

Yuma reached for it and then withdrew his hand, looking at me. "Can you just do it? You're much better at this than me."

What? No way.

Wiping him with a towel? Fine. Rubbing ointment on him? Not going to happen.

Yuma looked into my eyes and smiled.

"Sure," I said.

Ugghhh…

I uncapped the bottle and squeezed a moderate amount onto my fingers. Before I could touch him, however, he caught my hand.

"Wait," he said, brow furrowed. "Antibiotic… Isn't that something that fights germs?"

I nodded.

He grabbed my wrist now, looking at my fingers. "Then isn't it dangerous for you to do this? What if the germs from the cut get onto you and you get sick?"

I would have been slain by his sweetness if I weren't slightly miffed that he'd made me agree to this in the first place. All the same I couldn't help a smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't have any cuts on my hands and I'll wash right afterwards, so it's ok."

Yuma's made an 'O' with his mouth in understanding, and then let go of my wrist, this time swinging his key around his neck so it wasn't in the way.

I suppressed a shiver as I touched my fingertips, bathed in lotion, to his chest. His skin was soft but firm, and touching him brought back memories of the time we'd nearly kissed. I suppressed the hurricane of emotions that nearly rose up with the memory.

I tried to make myself spread the lotion mechanically to circumvent my raging emotions. I watched in a trance as my fingers rubbed in methodical circles across and down his chest. The white film slowly covered more and more of his skin.

"Rio, you're a great nurse, but you really need to figure out where my stomach ends."

I snapped out of my trance and recoiled. Sure enough, I'd covered his entire chest and abdomen in the ointment and had begun to smear it on the hem of his shorts when he'd stopped me. I couldn't stop the rush of blood to my face. I couldn't even manage an apology.

"What's this?" Yuma held up the gauze.

Oh, no… I had to do the gauze now?

I reached for it but he seemed to figure out what it was for. He waved me away. "Nah, I think I know what it's for, actually. You go ahead and wash your hands before you get sick." Biting his tongue in intense focus, he began unwrapping the white cloth to wrap it around himself.

I expected a rush of relief but instead felt a wave of disappointment. Stupid hormones.

I washed my hands in ice cold water to cool myself down. Wiping my hands quickly I turned back to see Yuma's handiwork.

…Or rather, the lack thereof. He'd rolled the gauze around himself with no method whatsoever, so it was bunched in some places and didn't cover others. He grinned at me and gave me two thumbs up. "Good?" he asked.

I giggled, shaking my head. I grabbed the roll and reached around him, quickly covering up the bare spots and straightening out the rough spots. Now, to tie it off.

I leant further into him to get my hands behind his back and tuck the gauze in such a way that it wouldn't come out. For some reason it wouldn't stay; frustrated, I reached around further and pushed it in harder until it was finally secured.

"Rio, your hair is so soft."

I froze, becoming aware of myself. In my frustration I'd pushed into him until my right cheek was flush on his right shoulder, drowning his jaw in my locks. Before I could pull away I heard him sniff.

"Mm, smells good, too."

I shivered at his breath on my ear. It didn't help that our bodies were completely touching, and I was still in my beach volleyball outfit, which meant a lot of our skin was touching, too. For a second I just let myself lean into his warmth, allowing my cheek to rest heavily on his shoulder. I closed my eyes.

He didn't say or do anything for the next few moments, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. Was it possible he liked this, too? That he was thinking about me like I was thinking about him?

I opened my eyes to find out, but the first thing they saw from my vantage point off his shoulder was a figure standing in the door. Purple hair and smirking eyes came into view quickly, although the nonchalant resting of the figure against the doorframe should've given it away earlier.

I jumped back nearly five feet, and then immediately regretted the lack of warmth. I hid it as best I could, which wasn't very well. "R – Ryouga. What are you doing here?"

His eyes mocked me. "Hmm… I could ask you the same question, Rio." I blushed uncontrollably. He looked at Yuma. "Next duel's about to start. Want to watch?"

"Of course!" Yuma exclaimed. I cursed. I'd never had the chance to even observe his face and now I didn't even have a guess at what'd been going through his mind a few moments ago.

But everything fell to the back of my mind as Yuma looked at me and smiled warmly. "Thanks so much for taking care of me, Rio. Ready to go?"

Well, no problem. There would be plenty of other chances. That I'd make sure of. I smiled back at him.

"Yup. Let's go."

* * *

Author's Note

Apologies for the long delay.

If you are a registered user of this site, please vote in the poll regarding this story on my profile page. If you are not registered and wish to respond on the poll question, please leave a review to that end. (Or you can do both.) The question is whether or not you would like the duels in this story to be written out, or merely have them implied with the victor stated, and then have more time with the plot development of the story. Thank you.

Next Update: 05/11/14, by 4:00 AM UTC (Postponed)


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